Description:
Almost three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, today more often than ever, global media and intellectuals rely on the concept of homo sovieticus to explain Russia's authoritarian ills. Homo sovieticus - or the Soviet man - is understood to be a double-thinking, suspicious and fearful conformist with no morality, an innate obedience to authority and no public demands; they have been forged in the fires of the totalitarian conditions in which they find themselves.
But where did this concept come from? What analytical and ideological pillars does it stand on? What is at stake in using this term today? The Afterlife of the 'Soviet Man' addresses all these questions and even explains why - at least in its contemporary usage - this concept should be abandoned altogether.Brief description: Gulnaz Sharafutdinova is Professor of Russian Politics at King's Russia Institute (King's College London, UK. She is the author of award-winning The Red Mirror: Putin's Leadership and Russia's Insecure Identity (2020) and an earlier monograph, Political Consequences of Crony Capitalism Inside Russia (2011). She is also the co-editor, along with Neringa Klumbyte, of Soviet Society In The Era of Late Socialism, 1964-1985 (2012).
Review Quotes:
"A very timely book about major attempts to analyse Soviet-Russian identity before and after the collapse of the USSR. Combining methodological clarity with empathy and erudition, the author rejects a reductionist 'totalitarian' approach in favour of nuanced observation. A useful corrective to any current analysis of Russia, in peace and at war." --Vladislav Zubok, Professor of History, the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
"[The Afterlife of the 'Soviet Man'] does an excellent job at historicizing the idea of the Homo Sovieticus as a human type and a set of core traits associated with a political system. Sharafutdinova's book is a powerful warning to how dangerous the feeling of being "on the right side of history" can be for any thinker." --H-Net Reviews "The Afterlife of the 'Soviet Man' is a valuable contribution to a growing body of literature on Soviet andpost-Soviet subjectivity." --Europe-Asia Studies